Earnings Watch: Analyst sentiment positive on AT&T ahead of Q2 resultsAT&T (T) is expected to report second quarter earnings after the market close on Thursday, July 23, with a conference call scheduled for 4:30 pm ET. AT&T is a global telecommunications company offering wireless and long distance services. EXPECTATIONS: Analysts are looking for earnings per share of 63c on revenue of $33.04B, according to First Call. The consensus range for EPS is 52c-67c on revenue of $32.51B-$33.84B. LAST QUARTER: AT&T reported first quarter adjusted EPS of 63c against estimates for 62c, on revenue of $32.58B against estimates for $32.84B. In Q1, the company reported the following: Wireless service revenues were down 3.7% to $14.81B; Phone-only postpaid ARPU decreased 9.6% versus the year-earlier quarter; Phone-only postpaid ARPU with AT&T Next monthly billings decreased 1.9% year over year, but increased 0.4% sequentially; Postpaid churn of 1.02%; 6.2M postpaid smartphone gross adds and upgrades in the quarter; 1.2M total wireless net adds, including 441,000 postpaid and 684,000 connected cars; 1.2M branded smartphones added to base, including 700,000 prepaid. AT&T noted its FY15 standalone guidance remained 'on track,' and said it expected the DirecTV (DTV) deal to close in Q2. STREET RESEARCH: Street research has been overwhelmingly positive in the weeks leading up to AT&T's Q2 earnings report with several firms issuing upgrades on the stock. On July 1, Oppenheimer raised their price target on AT&T to $40 from $36. Following AT&T's acquisition of DirecTV, Oppenheimer expects AT&T to benefit from cross-selling, new services, and higher wireless prices. The firm expects the company's free cash flow to be boosted by its winding down of Project VIP. The firm kept an Outperform rating on the stock. Also on July 1, Buckingham initiated AT&T with a Buy rating and $41 price target. On July 9, Stifel resumed coverage of AT&T with a Buy and $41.50 price target. PRICE ACTION: AT&Tís shares are up approximately 4% since the company's Q1 report. However, over the past 12 months, they are down about 5%. In afternoon trading ahead of tonightís Q2 report, AT&Tís shares are down 0.7%.

Comcast reports Cable customer relationships increased by 31,000Revenue for Cable Communications increased 6.3% to $11.7B in Q2 compared to $11.0B in the second quarter of 2014, driven by increases of 10.0% in high-speed Internet, 20.4% in business services and 3.7% in video. Customer Relationships increased by 31,000 to 27.3M in Q2, a 56,000 improvement compared to the second quarter of 2014 and driven by increases in double and triple product relationships. At the end of Q2, double and triple product customers increased to 69% of total customer relationships compared to 68% in the second quarter of 2014. Video net losses improved 52% year-over-year to 69,000 and were the best result for a second quarter in nine years, while High-Speed Internet customers grew by 180,000 and Voice net additions were 49,000.

EU sends Statement of Objections to Sky, U.S. film studiosThe European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Sky UK (SKYAY) and six major U.S. film studios: Disney (DIS), NBCUniversal (CMCSA), Paramount Pictures (VIA), Sony (SNE), Twentieth Century Fox (FOXA) and Warner Bros (TWX). The Commission takes the preliminary view that each of the six studios and Sky UK have bilaterally agreed to put in place contractual restrictions that prevent Sky UK from allowing EU consumers located elsewhere to access, via satellite or online, pay-TV services available in the UK and Ireland. Without these restrictions, Sky UK would be free to decide on commercial grounds whether to sell its pay-TV services to such consumers requesting access to its services, taking into account the regulatory framework including, as regards online pay-TV services, the relevant national copyright laws. If the Commission's preliminary position were to be confirmed, each of the companies would have breached EU competition rules prohibiting anti-competitive agreements. The sending of a Statement of Objections does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation. These antitrust investigations focus on contractual restrictions on passive sales outside the licensed territory in agreements between studios and broadcasters.

AT&T announces Department of Justice completed review of acquisition of DirecTV AT&T (T) released the following statement "We are pleased the Department of Justice has completed its review of our acquisition of DIRECTV (DTV). We look forward to gaining the approval of the Federal Communications Commission so we can quickly begin providing consumers with the benefits of this combination."

FCC chairman proposes to approve AT&T-DirecTV deal with conditionsIn light of news reports concerning the proposed AT&T (T) and DirecTV (DTV) transaction, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler issued the following statement: "An order recommending that the AT&T-DirecTV transaction be approved with conditions has circulated to the commissioners... If the conditions are approved by my colleagues, 12.5M customer locations will have access to a competitive high-speed fiber connection. This additional build-out is about 10 times the size of AT&Tís current fiber-to-the-premise deployment... and more than triples the number of metropolitan areas AT&T has announced plans to serve. In addition, the conditions will build on the 'Open Internet Order' already in effect... First, in order to prevent discrimination against online video competition, AT&T will not be permitted to exclude affiliated video services and content from data caps on its fixed broadband connections. Second, in order to bring greater transparency to interconnection practices, the company will be required to submit all completed interconnection agreements to the Commission, along with regular reports on network performance... We will require an independent officer to help ensure compliance with these and other proposed conditions." Reference Link

21st Century Fox downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at MacquarieMacquarie downgraded 21st Century Fox to Neutral and lowered its price target to $34 from $40. The firm sees uncertainty around FY16 earnings given increasing programming costs, further investments, and potential acquisitions, and has a mixed views on the company's OTT streaming position.

Disney's 'Ant-Man' leads U.S. weekend box office with $58MFor the weekend of July 19, Disney's (DIS) "Ant-Man" topped domestic box office charts at $58M. Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) subsidiary Universal's "Minions" landed in second place with $50.2M, while Universal's "Trainwreck" came in third with $30.2M. Disney's "Inside Out" and Universal's "Jurassic World" took fourth and fifth place at $11.7M and $11.4M, respectively. Data gathered by Rentrak.